How to Seamlessly Use AI in Your Everyday Life

When folks talk about artificial intelligence, it can all sound like marketing—“transforming the world,” “making daily life easier,” blah blah blah. But here’s my reality check: AI isn’t some distant concept. I use it, literally, every single day. And I’m definitely not alone.

Back in 2023, at the SANS DFIR Summit, Matt Edmondson opened my eyes to just how accessible and operational AI had become. That one demo was the spark, and now? I can’t imagine running my day without it.

How Many People Really Use AI?

Here’s what’s wild—recent studies in 2025 show over a third of people worldwide use AI daily, whether they realize it or not. Some estimates say as high as 66% are using AI-powered services—recommendations, search assistants, smart filters, you name it, but they don’t realize it. In the U.S., about 27% admit to using AI daily, but that’s likely underreported because so much AI hides in “normal” apps. That’s hundreds of millions of people relying on these tools every day.

What’s going on isn’t magic. It’s practical, behind-the-scenes ops, saving time on the boring stuff and freeing up more space for thinking and doing.

My Day-to-Day with AI

For me, AI isn’t just “big data” or theory. Here’s what it does for me, and how it actually makes a difference:

• Recurring searches and notifications. I tell it what I want to know about, then tune results in via simple conversations. Now it knows what stuff I actually care about. If I want to keep appraised, I can set this to a recurring update; literally “tell me if/when this changes or updates are announced.” Done.

• Conference CFPs. I never miss a call for papers because AI tracks when conferences I’m interested in opens/closes the CFP.

• Sales and discounts. I spam-filter every marketing email, but AI intelligently notifies me when there’s a deal on something I actually use or want. Example: “I’m looking for a deal on $product. Let me know if a sale occurs in the future of at least 25% discount.” Boom.

• News and rumors. I tracked every twist and turn of the recent Pixel 10 rumor mill, right up to the announcement, without having to doomscroll.

• Drafting docs. Whether it’s an email, blog, or team memo, AI shaves hours off writing, revising and cleanup.

• Marketplace and team ops. Writing annual reviews (including my own), sending team recaps, even cranking out Facebook Marketplace ads is faster and sharper.

• Research. The old way: crawl Reddit, tech blogs, niche forums for hours. Now: ask, get context, validate, done.

• Product releases, pro/con comparisons, and price tracking. AI does the grunt work—finds discounts too. I’ve easily saved hundreds by letting it vet the deals. Before I click “Buy,” ask AI. It’s that simple.

• Planning—projects, home DIY, travel. It handles when, where, cost, even style preferences. From daily Amazon purchases to “find all expensable purchases for my side business on Amazon and email receipts to Expensify for processing” — all automated.

• Domain and site migrations. I migrated my entire blog from Medium to Hashnode this morning with all the historical details, using Perplexity + Comet, no sweat.

• Travel data. Moved all my travel history from the past few years, which is definitely not trivial, from TripIt to Polarsteps, which has zero support for imports. AI did all the heavy lifting.

Where AI Still Falls Short

It’s not all perfect. The biggest headaches? Ecosystem lock-in and integrations. Apple, Google, and Microsoft each want you in their “walled garden.” Too many great tools just don’t play nice together—yet.

That’s why I stick with tools like Perplexity (especially with Comet for browser workflows). ChatGPT’s good in a pinch, but Perplexity is my daily driver.

There’s hope, though. The first shots of the “AI browser wars” are landing. For operational professionals who demand open, flexible solutions, the future looks a lot more interesting.

Final Thoughts

I’m saving time, money, and stress thanks to AI—not by buying into the “revolution,” but by letting computers do what they’re good at, and freeing up my mental cycles for the real work. There’s a long way to go before everything connects the way it should, but if you’re not handing off your routine ops to AI already, you’re missing out. Srsly, get on the bus! Experiment. Tweak your workflows. The tools are here, and using them for what actually matters is the key before you get left in the dust.